Fatimid shiite dynasty who claimed the caliphate on the basis of their descent from fatima. Fatimids and umayyads the institute of ismaili studies. Tauris in association with the institute of ismaili studies emerging from a period of long seclusion, the leader of the burgeoning community of ismaili shii muslims was declared the first fatimid imamcaliph in the year 909. The fatimid caliphates were a 10th century ismacili shici dynasty that conquered the ikhshidid dynasty in egypt.
The fatimid leader defined himself not only as caliph leader of the muslim world, but even as mahdi, the promised. Combined with the northern invaders that they had brought upon theirempire, a powerful new bloc was able to form in syria, the ayyubids dynasty, whose most famous leader, saladin put an end to the dregs of the fatimid dynasty in 1171. The fatimids claimed to be descendants of fatima, the daughter of muhammad, and wife of ali, the fourth caliph and first shii imam. It destroyed any semblance of central authority in the muslim world, provoked the reaction of the turks as defenders of orthodox sunni islam, impelled the omayyads in spain to declare their. Dr yasir qadhi on the origin of the mawlid and the fatimids. It is unanimously agreed upon, by historians, legal specialists and theologians of all groups that the prophet saw himself never commanded his followers. The fatimid dynasty the institute of ismaili studies. Under the fatimids, egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak north africa, sicily, palestine, syria, the red sea coast of africa, the yemen, and the hejaz. Bookmark this page on these social networks hakim bey. Of course, the fatimid period is named for this daughter. The shii believe that the koran was absolute and divine.
Fatimid caliphate simple english wikipedia, the free. Rather, historians relied on sources which were hostile to this dynasty, as explained by a. Fatimids definition of fatimids by the free dictionary. The javascript bookmark tool appears to not be working or you have javascript disabled. Picklay, in his work rise and fall of the fatimid empire. Named after muhammad s daughter, fatimah, since rulers claimed descent from her.
Initially established in qairawan, tunisia, in 909. Fatimids article about fatimids by the free dictionary. The fatimid state took shape among the berber kutama, the people of algeria. Nazeer ahmed, phd the fatimid conquest of egypt 969 was a defining moment in islamic history. The ismaili dream of a universal caliphate was thus lost. Fatimids, shiite muslim dynasty which ruled in egypt 9691171, and in other parts of north africa tunisia, 9091051, and the near east syria, 9691076 and palestine, 9691099.
The dynasty of arab origin ruled across the mediterranean coast of africa and ultimately made egypt the center of the caliphate. Fatimid art, precursor or culmination the institute of. Under the fatimid caliphs, egypt made impressive strides in the field of. The fatimid or fatimid caliphate is the ismaili shiite dynasty that ruled north africa from a. Since the emergence of modern ismaili studies in the 1930s, there have been many scholarly investigations of different aspects of fatimid history and thought. Some things i read about was how the fatimid dynasty originated and how they conquered egypt.
The fatimids were an islamic dynasty that reigned in north africa and later in egypt from 909 until 1171. He established the ayyubid dynasty which ruled egypt, palestine and syria for about 200 years until the th century when it gradually merged into the mamluk sultanate. The dynasty ruled across the mediterranean coast of africa and ultimately made egypt the center of. Dachraoui, as well as stern, have painstakingly shown. The mosque of alazhar was founded by jawhar alsiqilly, the fatimid conqueror of egypt, in 970 as the congregational mosque for the new city of alqahira. Fall of fatmid dynasty imam nizar was arrested, brought to cairo and imprisoned till his death. Its role in the fortunes and misfortunes of the fatimid dynasty during its rule of egypt 9691171 pdf. The fatimids quickly overthrew the sunni rulers in most of nw africa. Fatimid dynasty 909 1171 ismaili shii empire in egypt and parts of north africa. Abbasids, and ruled over different parts of the islamic world, from north africa and sicily to palestine and syria.
In different times different areas of the maghreb, egypt, and the levant belonged to. With mawlid processions due to take place this weekend, dr yasir qadhi explains the origin of celebrating the birthdate of prophet muhammad saw from islamic history. Unlike the cabbasids or umayyads, who were led by a. Mohammed had four daughters of which fatima was the youngest. The fatimid empire in north africa, egypt and syria was at the centre of the political and religious history of the islamic world in the middle ages, from the breakdown of the abbasid empire in the tenth century, to the invasions of the seljuqs in the eleventh and the crusaders in the twelfth, leading up to. Pdf the initial destination of the fatimid caliphate. In order to expand their realm and to make it more effective, the fatimids needed a capital more central than tunisia.
Fatimid article about fatimid by the free dictionary. The fatimid dais operating in persia had begun to be particularly successful from the time of almuiz 3416595375, the fourth caliphimam, who conquered egypt for his dynasty, founded cairo, and made serious efforts to gain the support of the dissident eastern carmatians in order to reestablish ideological unity in the ismaili community daftary, 1990, pp. There were four more fatimid caliphs from the line of almustali ruling in cairo but could not be considered more than a local egyptian dynasty without power or influence. The aim of our present discussion of the shiite states is not to give a detailed history of these states nor is it, to trace out their growth. A short history of the fatimid khalifate forgotten books. As the fatimid caliphate was not merely symbolical of the secular power of an illustrious dynasty, but represented at the same time the spiritual leadership of the vast community of muslims. At its height the caliphate included in addition to egypt varying areas of the maghreb, sudan, sicily, the.
Fatimids synonyms, fatimids pronunciation, fatimids translation, english dictionary definition of fatimids. Merah souad kulliyyah faculty of education international islamic university malaysia abstract this paper tries to investigate the fatimid educational administration experience in egypt. An area including presentday algeria, tunisia, sicily, egypt, and syria in the tenth to twelfth centuries, came under the rule of the fatimid dynasty 9091171. The fatimid dynasty first established itself in tunisia, north africa, in december 303 a. In 909 fatimid established the tunisian city of mahdia as their capital. This book by professor heinz halm is the first publication to focus mainly on the fatimids varied contributions to islamic culture and civilisation and their patronage of learning. The fatimid caliphate was an ismaili shia caliphate that spanned a large area of north africa, from the red sea in the east to the atlantic ocean in the west. The fatimid attitude toward the umayyad caliphate reflected in the sermons.
In 1171, a kurdish officer named saladin overthrew the fatimid dynasty, which had been in decline for a long time. And, as a last example of fatimid peculiarities, the intensity of the dynastys religious and missionary zeal was at its most effective through the rule of imamcaliph alhakim died in 1021 ce 411 ah and decreased thereafter, as was amply demonstrated by albasasiris failure in baghdad in 105759 ce 449451 ah. Conquered egypt in 969 and made cairo its new capital. Ismaili shii islamic dynasty of caliphs, ruling over large parts of the muslim world from the early 10th century until the late 12th century. Landmark exhibition takes you inside the exuberant, diverse world of the fatimid dynasty torontos aga khan museum brings together 87 pieces from collections across the globe.
Pdf on jan 1, 1986, shainool jiwa and others published the initial. The fatimid caliphate was the political pinnacle of the ismailis, a group of shiites who expected the appearance of a messiah descended from the marriage of ali, the fourth caliph, and fatima, the daughter of the prophet muhammad. Splendour of fatimid architectural legacy in egypt remains vibrant. Fatimid synonyms, fatimid pronunciation, fatimid translation, english dictionary definition of fatimid. Such an objective cannot be achieved in these few pages we have at our disposal and shall be attempted at another occasion. The fatimid educational administration in egypt dr. Egypt a convenient centre for syria, palestine, arabia and the mediterranean islands presented excellent possibilities.
Its sovereignty spanned a large area of north africa, from the red sea in the east to the atlantic ocean in the west. After reading the about the fatimid dynasty and legacy i found some useful information. By ibn husayns death 934, the fatimid empire expanded into s europe, and in 969 they captured egypt and established the mosque and university of alazhar, one of the most influential. The fatimid caliphate was ruled by the alfatimiyyun arabic. Intellectual life during the reign of the two fatimid caliphs. Ghaznavid dynasty, 9771186 ce, dynasty of turkic origin that ruled in khorasan in northeastern iran, afghanistan, and northern india.
General editor and a member of the editorial board of the journal of. The fatimid foreign network splintered and it was no longer able to coordinate disorder among its enemies. This file is licensed under the creative commons attributionshare alike 4. Finally, upon aladids death from natural causes at the age of 22 in 567 ah 1171 ce, salah aldin alayyubi, who had been the fatimid vizier in cairo since 593 ah 1169 ce, put an end to fatimid rule and established the sunni ayyubid dynasty in egypt. Fatimid wooden plank with mounted hunter with lance, century, museum of islamic art, cairo illustration of egyptian horseman fatimid wooden plank with mounted hunter with lance, 11th century wood plank with daily life scenes in the. Since the creation of the fatimid caliphate, the ismaili imams wished to expand their.
Other things i included in my website was the fatimid s extensive trade network and how their trade determined the economic course of egypt during the high middle ages. The fatimids and the red sea 9691171 archive ouverte hal. Abd allah almahdi founded the only sustained shii dynasty 9091171 to rule over substantial parts of the medieval muslim world, rivalling both. Fatimid definition and meaning collins english dictionary.
Dawa in yemen, dawa in maghrib, fatimid caliphate, imam almahdi. Jami alazhar architecture of the fatimid period archnet. The book traces the rise of the fatimid dynasty in the 4th century ah10th century ce, from its origins in islamic messianism to power in north africa and egypt, and a central position of influence throughout the muslim world. They believed that the authority should only continue through mohammeds family. Detail of the portable wooden mihrab from the mausoleum of sayyida nafisa, great granddaughter of hazrat hasan, who was married to a son of imam jafar alsadiq. The fatimids claimed lineage rights from the prophet muhammads daughter fatima. The fatimid dynasty established itself in ifriqiyah now in tunisia as a result of the countrys conquest by the berbers, who were waging a struggle against the aghlabid dynasty in order to establish a state based on the ismailian shiite principles of social equality and justice. It is far from complete and is being constructed and improved all the time.
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